Iranian Political Stand-Off Escalates

One of Iran’s vice-presidents, Mohammad Satarifar, said Monday, January 12, the entire government should quit if it is unable to block the attempt by the Guardians Council – an un-elected conservative-run political watchdog – to disqualify thousands of candidates from the February 20 parliamentary polls, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

All of Iran’s 27 provincial governors have threatened to step down and a source close to embattled President Mohammad Khatami told AFP at least 10 ministers had already prepared letters of resignation.

Disgruntled reformist MPs, 83 of whom have been barred from standing for re-election, have also vowed to keep up their sit-in at the Iranian parliament, or Majlis.

The state news agency IRNA said the MPs have challenged the Guardians Council to back up its rulings.

Negotiations

Meanwhile, blacklisted candidates and government officials were reported to be locked in intensive closed-door negotiations with the Council, hoping the bulk of the 3,605 disqualifications can be annulled in a complex appeals process.

"I hope that the contacts with the Guardians Council and other officials will have a good result. I think that in certain cases there have been errors," parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi told IRNA.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, has yet to play his hand in the deepening crisis.

On Monday, he said he would only intervene if all legal channels failed to break the deadlock.

But Khamenei looks set to be obliged to step in as all 12 members of the Guardians Council are directly or indirectly appointed by him and neither side appears ready to concede defeat.

The reformist-controlled Interior Ministry – the body responsible for organizing elections – has dismissed the mass disqualifications "illegal" and said they will not be respected, raising questions over whether the elections can even be held if the crisis continues.

On Tuesday, conservative newspapers signaled that the conservative camp was digging in its heels in its attempt to wrest control over the Majlis – and therefore the government – held for the past four years by reformers.

According to the Jomhuru Islami, "the approval of certain corrupt elements… would discourage voters from participating in the elections."

Referring to the incumbent reformists in the Majlis, it lashed out at "those who over the past four year have only had ears for the United States and Britain and who have acted against the regime."

"Four more years of treason cannot be accepted," alleged the paper, calling on the Guardians Council not to back down.

Another conservative paper, Siassat-Rouz, even called for incumbent MPs who were disqualified to be thrown out of the Majlis immediately – a month before the elections and before the current house is changed in June.

Washington Comments
Stepping in, the U.S., Iran’s arch-foe which made tentative overtures to Tehran following last month’s killer earthquake, called on the government to disavow the Council’s attempts to shape the outcome of the vote.

"We, as a matter of course, support free and fair elections in Iran and we are therefore opposed to interference in the electoral process," Deputy State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, on a visit to Tehran, also warned of potentially serious consequences for Iran-EU relations if the vote is perceived as being rigged by hardliners.